Rep. Vito Fossella’s blood-alcohol content was more than double the legal limit when he was busted for drunken driving in suburban Virginia, court documents show.

The Staten Island congressman failed a police-ad ministered Breathalyzer with a 0.17 blood-alcohol content when he was pulled over in the DC suburb of Alexandria, Va., early Thursday morning, according to Fossella’s arrest warrant.

Virginia’s legal limit, like New York, is 0.08.

“I was brought up man enough to know it’s time to admit mistakes and apologize,” Fossella said yesterday at a press conference at the Hilton Garden Inn in Staten Island.

“I know better than to get behind the wheel of a car even after one drink.”

The Republican said he had been out for dinner Wednesday evening with Giant fans from his district who had been in town for a White House event honoring the Super Bowl-winning team.

At around midnight, Fossella said, he left them to meet “a friend” when he was pulled over. He spent the night in jail before being released at about 9 a.m. Thursday.

Fossella is married with three children. His wife, Mary Patricia, attended yesterday’s press conference but did not speak.

He declined to discuss the identity of the friend or where the two were supposed to meet.

Experts say a male adult would need to have consumed a significant amount of booze to have 0.17 percent alcohol in his bloodstream.

“It’s a pretty hefty amount, probably equivalent to a six-pack of beer or five or six mixed drinks in an hour or hour and a half,” said Dr. Lester Silver, associate medical director of the rehab clinic Turning Point at St. Francis Hospital in upstate Beacon.

“Somebody would definitely be intoxicated at that level.”

Fossella, the only Republican among New York City’s 13-member congressional delegation, is expected to have a tough re-election battle this November.

Just last month, Vice President Dick Cheney attended a fund-raiser for Fossella in Manhattan.

News of Fossella’s bust has energized his Democratic challenger.

Already, attorney Stephen Harrison has repeatedly blasted Fossella in the press for the potentially deadly blunder.

“Basically, he says, ‘I apologize for this embarrassment,’ and he makes it a matter of embarrassment and judgment,” Harrison said. “It’s not about judgment or embarrassment, it’s a crime. You can’t forgive a crime because someone is embarrassed.”

If convicted, Fossella faces a mandatory jail sentence of at least five days, along with possible loss of his driver’s license for a year and a $250 fine.

Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Randy Sengel said Fossella’s case will be treated like any other. He added that his office generally doesn’t plea-bargain drunken-driving cases.